Spring bed bottom



Jan. 12 1926. 1,569,439

0. H. STUEVWE ET AL' SPRING BED BOTTOM Filed April 25, 1921 INVENTOR. (UAW 1% Jam ATTORNEY;

Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

OSCAR H. STUEWE AND REINHOLD G. MARQUARDT, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. Y

SPRING BED BOTTOM.

Application filed April 23, 1921. Serial No. 463,952;

To all whom it may concern.

' Be it known that we, OSCAR H. STUEWE and RnrNHoLn G. MARQUARDT, citizens of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Spring Bed Bottoms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in spring bed bottoms of the type commonly known as sagless, each portion of the spring being adapted to bear its own proportionate share ofthe load placed upon it in such a manner as to avoid ham- 16 mock effects, i. e., a depression of the central portion generally.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a form of spring which will yield readily in conformity to the contour 20 of the load, thereby constituting a soft and highly resilient support which while retaining a non-sagging characteristic is still capable of yielding locally under pressure in a manner similar to the yielding characteristics of spring bedbottoms having a multitude of independently acting coils but which can be manufactured at a small fraction of the expense of bed bottoms having such independently acting coils.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a bed bottom composed of series of unlike units in which each alternate unit is adapted to resist lateral bending strains while yielding readily to vertical strains and each intermediate unit is adapted to yield both'vertically and laterally without material longitudinal extension in the unit itself, all of the units, however, being connected with the end members or rails of the bed frame by longitudinally extensible helically coiled springs.

A further object of this invention is to provide improved connecting means for the intermediate units above referred to whereby they may besecurely and unyieldingly at tached to the helical springs at the ends of the bed frame.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the bed spring embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a section'taken on the line 22 of Fig. l, the parts being shown upon an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the manner in which portions of the spring fabric are connected by coiled springs to the end bars of the frame.

Fig. 4c is a detail view of the novel connecting means shown in Fig. 3.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

The frame of our improved bed spring may be of any ordinary construction. As illustrated, it comprises a pair of longitudinally extending rods 1 provided with end brackets 2 to which the end rails or cross bars 3 are secured in a well known manner.

The rails 3 at the respective ends of the frame are connected near the sides of the frame, and preferably at the center also, by longitudinally extending bands or metallic ribbons 4 formed of resilientmaterial, such for example, as spring steel bands. Each of the strips 4 is connected atits respective ends to the end members 3 ofthe frame by one or more helical springso, two such springs being preferably employed'at each end of the band. At regular intervals between the bands 4, similar bands or ribbons 6 are employed, these being preferably narrower than the bands 4 and having their ends connected with the end bars 3 by a single helical spring 5. The bands 6 and 4: are spaced at suflicient distances from each other to allow the auxiliary supporting units hereinafter described to be placed between them. Eachband 6 or 4 constitutes a supporting unit which is adapted to yield very freely in a vertical direction while resisting lateral movement except such as may take place bodily due to the extension of the helical springs at the respective ends. Therefore, each of the band units persistently maintains a position substantially in a vertical plane extending longitudinally of the bed frame while freely bending downwardly at any point throughout its length when subjected to load.

The intermediate units are composed'of wires or cables 7 each unit comprising a double strand or two strands extending from one end of the bed frame to the other and connected to the end bars 3 by helical springs 5 to which the strands are secured by the connecting members hereinafter described. The strands 7 composing each unit are preferably formed of a single piece of wire bent substantially at the middle as indicated at 8 and folded or doubled upon itself, the bend forming one end of the unit and the two ends of the wire being connected with each other to constitute the other end of the unit. We preferably employ a clamping clip 10 for connecting the two ends of the wire as above stated, this clip being machine pressed about the wire in such a manner as to rigidly grip each of the strands and also rigidly hold them together or in close proximity to each. other, the metal composing the clip being of such material that itwill not yield or slip along the wire under heavy stress. The hooks 9 of the helical springs 5 may therefore engage the clamping coupling men'iber 10 when the heel: is passed between the strands and manipulated into a position for such engagement. At the opposite end of the unit, the hoolr 9 of the helical spring 5 may be manipulated through the bend 8 of the wire or cable coniposing the unit. It will, of course, be understood that at one or the other end of the unit the helical springs will be distended in order to permit the manipulation of the hook into engagement with the unit.

At regular intervals along their length, each of the metallic ribbon units 4: (or 6) is provided with slots or openings 11 to receive transverse coupling links 12' which are adapted to connect each of these units with one strand of adjacent cable unit at each side of the band unit. These coupling members preferably comprise short strips of metal having hooks their respective ends adapted to engage the band units and cable units respectively. The hook members may, if desired, be partially formed l efore manipulating them into position and subsequently pressed into retaining position, after they are assembled in coupling relation to the respective units. Each of these coupling members 12 is of such length that a deflection of the connected member of the cable unit towards the band to which it is coupled is necessary, and by similarly coupling the other strand of the cable unit to the next adjacent band unit at a point directly opposite the first mentioned coupling, the strands composing the cable unit are caused to diverge syn'imetrically.

Between successive pairs of couplin 5 12 attached to any given cable unit, the strands are drawn towards each other and coupled. together by similar clips 13, the ends of which have hook-shaped engagement with the respective strands of the same/unit. By locating these connecting clips or couplings l3 midway between successive pairs of connecting strips or couplings 12, the two strands composingeach cable unit are alternately deflected towards the band units at the points where they are connected thereto by the couplings 12 and thentowards each other in the direction of the couplings 13 whereby each strand of. the cable unit follows a Zigzag line from one end of the fabric to the other. The cable strands are adapted to yield freely in either a lateral or a ver tical plane. Therefore, they respond readily to a lateral bodily shifting movement of one or more of the bands 6 while resisting such movement by reason of the longtudinal tension supplied by the helical springs 5 at their respective ends and also by the transmission of stress from one strand of the cable unit to the other through the coupling members 125 and thence to the adjacent band 6 through the coupling members 12.

The couplings or links 12 and 18 being offset or staggered with reference to each other throughout the bed spring and being arranged to draw in opposite directions upon the portions of the cable unit to which they are secured, it is obvious that they serve to distribute resiliently a load borne by any portion of the spring fabric and prevent undue sagging at the point of pressure whereas the intermediate band units by reason of their resistance to lateral bending stress effectively prevent a sagging of the central portion of the fabric with reference to the side portions such as would otherwise occur by reason of combined pressures applied to various portions of the fabric.

The coupling links 12 are rigidly or semirigidly secured to the bands 6, and contribute materially to the efiectiveness of the spring structure by maintaining the bands, in the plane in which the lateral stress is exerted. If the hooks of the links 12 were not pressed fiat into contact with the bands, the bands would tend to twist under lateral pressure to a position in which they would freely bend laterally. The links 12 resist the, twisting moment and keep the bands in their most effective position. It is, therefore, possible to wholly avoid the hammock-like effects characteristic of the bed bottoms heretofore constructed in the form of a sheet of fabric or interconnected strands lying substantially in a common plane.

The improved fabric herein described is subject to little if any deterioration in use and retains its original shape and resistance through prolonged periods ofuse. much more effectively than the mattress springs heretofore constructed. The use of the relatively wide band units. 4 along the side margins result in very effective resistance to any strains tending to narrow the fabric along a transverse center line and the use of a correspondingly wide band unit at along the longitudinal center line of the fabric constitutes in effect a division of the fabric into two parts acting more or less independently whereby two occupants of the bed may be separately supported with a slight tendency to keepeach away from the center of the bed without providing an objectionable ridge. The increased resistance of the wider band is only slightly more effective than that of the narrower bands 6 but it is sufiiciently effective for the purposes set forth.

We claim:

In a s ring bed bottom, the combination with a rame, of sets of alternately positioned band units and cable units each cable unit comprising a pair of alternately converging and diverging cables and said band units comprising flexible ribbons normally substantially in a common plane and provided at intervals throughout their length with apertures, tension springs connecting each of said units at its end with said frames, links connecting the converging portions of the cables of each cable unit with each other, and links connecting the diverging portions of the respective cables of each cable unit with apertured portions of adjacent ribbons, said last mentioned links being provided with end portions extending through the apertures of said ribbon and bent back upon themselves in gripping relation to said ribbon, whereby to tend to maintain said ribbons normally inthe plane of said bed bottom while permitting yielding relative Vertical movement between said units.

OSCAR H. STUEWE, REINHOLD e. MABQUARDT. 

